Flaxseed has been traditionally used in Finland and in many other countries in nutrition and also in folk medicine. Flaxseed is a versatile source of nutritious substances and bioactive compounds. Linseed oil comprises plenty of polyunsaturated fatty acids, and the amount of α-linolenic acid (ALA) is more than half of the total amount of the fatty acids. Flaxseed is also rich in high quality protein and dietary fibre, wherein the proportion of soluble fibre is 20-40%. The amount of lignans, which form a defensive mechanism in plants, is up to 100-1000 times higher in flax than in other edible plants. According to various studies, α-linolenic acid, which is an omega-3 fatty acid, has advantageous health effects. In addition to useful compounds, flaxseed also contains potential detrimental compounds, as e.g. cyanogenic glycosides and cadmium. However, these do not cause health risks as long as recommendations for use are followed.
The outermost layer of flaxseed is called mucin, which mainly forms the so called soluble fibre fraction. The amount of mucin is 4-8% of the weight of the seed. Mucin affects the functional characteristics of flaxseed. When mixing crushed flaxseed with water, mucin forms slimy sediment, which may have detrimental effects on the fermentation procedure, and the product itself.
Fermentation, also called souring, is a traditional preservation method, which can be used to improve the shelf life and digestability of the product and the bioavailability in the gastrointestinal tract of the compounds included in the plants. The souring process may be carried out by spontaneous fermentation or, alternatively, by fermentation using starters.
Commercial starters are available and, in addition, lactic acid bacterial strains isolated from various organic sources may be exploited in fermentation. It is also possible to use probiotic lactic acid bacteria in fermented plant products.
WO publication 2005/107777 discloses a product for weight control based on whole flax-seed. It is mentioned that the composition of the invention may be processed by, e.g., fermentation. DE patent application No. 39 05 055 A1 describes a cereal product fermented using lactobacilli. Flaxseed is mentioned in the list of cereals which can be used as raw material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,326 discloses a stable nutritive and therapeutic flaxseed composition, “dry fortified ground flax seed”, which contains vitamin B-6 and zinc ions, methods of preparing the same and therapeutic methods for employing such compositions. The composition is prepared from whole flaxseed, which has not been defatted. Preparation of “flax yogurt” is described, in which the composition is fermented by a “standard yogurt culture”.
While fermented cereal products containing live lactic acid bacteria are known (e.g. EP 0 568 530), and fermentation of flaxseed-based material is suggested (e.g. WO 2005/107777), there is no such tasty, ready-to-eat spoonable or drinkable snack product available, which would comprise defatted crushed flaxseed fermented by probiotic bacteria.